For parents of young children, contemplating a road trip with their children also means bracing themselves for the dreaded barrage of complaints and arguments emanating from the back seat of the vehicle occupied by their children. The perpetual bickering and squabbles between the children, at times escalating into fist fights, can turn even a well planned vacation into a nightmarish and unpleasant journey for the parents as well as the children. The trigger for the discord between the children under these circumstances stems in large measure from the irritation caused by being secured and confined by a seat belt, with little room to move, and forced proximity to a sibling, combined with the boredom from not having much to do. In the physical environment of the car, the siblings have no ability to separate from each other or give each other some distance as they can in other environments such as the home, by leaving the room, going outside, or going to their own bedrooms. At the same time, siblings do enjoy interacting occasionally in a friendly and civil manner while seated next to each other in a car and their companionship can actually keep them from becoming bored especially on long journeys.
Since children's relationships and interactions vary based upon the circumstances of the moment, the challenge is to create a seat divider device for use in the car that can separate children seated next to each other from engaging in destructive behavior and provide them the privacy and distance from each other when needed while at the same time offering them a means to positively interact with each other when they choose to do so.
A few prior art have attempted to isolate young children from each other in an automobile through the use of a seat divider between the children. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,401 to Weisbrodt et al., describes an automobile passenger seat divider with a polymeric base unit that has cup holders and storage bins along with an insert sleeve for the placement of an insert board to limit both visual and physical contact between children seated next to each other in the rear seat of a vehicle. A drawback of this seat divider is that since the insert board is loosely held on the insert sleeve, children seated on either side of the base unit can easily remove the insert board leaving little or no barrier between them because the rest of the base unit is comprised of only the insert sleeve, the cup holders and marginal bins. Once the seat divider of this prior art is taken apart by a precocious child, the children in the back seat of the vehicle are once again left to continue with their squabbles and complaints resulting in frustration and inconvenience for the parent driver who has to periodically stop the vehicle, disembark, and replace the insert board to restore harmony. A second drawback of this seat divider is that when the insert board is placed within the sleeve of the seat divider, it blocks visual contact between the children which inhibits even civil communication between them if they so desire. A third drawback is that the device offers little means for a child to entertain themselves while in isolation. Specifically, there is no means to access a desktop that can be used for placing reading, writing and/or coloring books and related materials. A fourth drawback is that the device is attached to the seat via an extension of the base plate into the seam of the car seat which “has an approximate length of 1 inch, and approximate width of 2½ inches” and is not as secure or safe as would be the case if the seat divider were secured using the seat belt and shoulder strap of the car.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,707 to Wurzell describes a seat divider in the form of an essentially transparent planar element meant to act as a physical barrier between children seated in the back seat of an automobile. A drawback of this seat divider is that it is too low in height to prevent the children from seeing and touching each other. Even an infant could see over the seat divider given the height of a car seat relative to the device. A second drawback is that the physical barrier is stationary and in place at all times, and is not adjustable. A third drawback is that the device offers limited means for a child to entertain themselves while in isolation. As in the seat divider of U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,401 the seat divider of this patent also does not provide the means to have access to a desktop table for reading, writing and other activities, nor does it have storage space for toys and other items of interest. A fourth drawback is that the device is attached to the car seat via a small “tongue member” secured within the seam of the car seat rather than safely secured using the seat belt and shoulder strap of the car. In general, the seat dividers described in these prior art are not sturdy enough to withstand tipping over or preventing the back seat child riders from dismantling the dividers.
The seat dividers described in other prior art such as those in U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,487 to Passehl, U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2012/0068490 (Vance), and U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2011/0227391 (Cahall et al.) are all substantially rectangular, vertical, dividers, comprising a single block or frame constructed of compressible and deformable material. U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,574 to Alexander is a seat divider that is generally S-Shaped with beverage receptacles and a few pockets, fabricated from a single block of generally light weight rigid material such as foam rubber or Styrofoam. The seat dividers in these prior art principally function to form a complete barrier between children seated next to each other in the rear seat of a motor vehicle and eliminates even periodic visual contacts between the children if they desire to communicate in a civil manner. They also have limited provisions for entertaining the children while thus separated from each other especially during a long journey when children invariably get bored, fidgety, and restless. In addition, the seat dividers of these prior art are sufficiently large and bulky that they make storage infeasible in the trunk or other parts of the car.
Although, the use of seat dividers to keep children separated in the back seat of a vehicle on short or long journey's to curb the verbal and physical fights among them is helpful, seat dividers that create an absolute barrier between the children especially throughout a long journey may prevent otherwise much needed healthy and playful interactions between the children. A seat divider whose sole purpose is to separate children from one another and is not flexible or adjustable to accommodate the varying circumstances encountered while traveling in a car and does not provide optimal remedies, will likely fail to serve the needs of parents and children and potentially exacerbate tensions and child misbehavior in the car. This may explain why the existing prior art spanning well over 30 years has failed to be adopted into the commercial market.
What is needed is an automobile seat divider, which while creating a physical barrier between children to stave off verbal and physical fights can also support the varying circumstances that arise in a car, including but not limited to the need for full interaction, partial interaction, and isolation amongst the children. Further, the seat divider should also be configured to provide a means for the children to make visual contact and periodically communicate with each other in a civil manner and entertain each other when appropriate. In addition, given the importance and need for safety in the modern society, any such seat divider should be securely fastened in place with little to no risk of becoming dislodged or airborne in an accident. Further, to accommodate the needs to at times put an additional child in the middle seat and/or make more room for two adults in the backseat, it is important to have the device compact and portable enough to store in the trunk of even a compact or midsized car. Finally, by having a seat divider with features that do more than simply isolate the children but also entertain them would help achieve the objective of making the driving experience more pleasant and safer for the driver and passengers.
The present invention provides such a seat divider apparatus that is configured with a center top panel structure that can be raised up when needed to block all visual contact between children seated next to each other and lowered when the children want to visually and verbally communicate with each other in a civil manner. An added feature on the top panel structure of the seat divider of the present invention is a two-way viewing window that can be conveniently opened and closed by the child seated on either side of the seat divider through recessed window panes without having to lower the entire top panel. The seat divider of the present invention is also a structure equipped with recessed desktop tables that can be pulled out for use by the child seated on either side of the seat divider when they want to read a book, do some writing, coloring, or playing with toys. The seat divider also has storage space to hold a variety of articles such as books, toys, crayons, pencils and similar provisions for easy access by the child sitting on either side of the seat divider to keep him/her entertained on a short or long journey; resulting in a peaceful and pleasant journey for the children as well as for the parents. Further, the seat divider of the present invention can be securely fastened in place via both the seat belt and shoulder belt of the middle seat and is compact and portable for easy storage in the trunk of a car. The seat divider of the present invention is thus an apparatus that is specifically configured to overcome the deficiencies in the prior art for automobile seat dividers.